ROOKIE fast bowlers Brandon Bess and Nelon Pascal have been named by the West Indies selectors in a youthful squad to face England in their official three-day tour opener in St Kitts on January 29.
Of the 12 players named in the West Indies ‘A’ team that has an average age of 21, only captain Darren Sammy and offspinner Amit Jaggernauth have Test experience. Barbados’ Kemar Roach who has played two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and a Twenty20 International, Lendl Simmons who has eight ODIs and a Twenty20 International under his belt, and Guyana’s Leon Johnson who has played three ODIs, are also included.
Bess, who has just three first class games for Guyana, and Pascal, seven for the Windward Islands, prior to the current round of regional matches, come into the reckoning strictly on promise and their lively pace.
Yesterday there were concerns over Pascal’s fitness and suggestions that Jamaican and West Indies Under-19 pacer Jason Dawes could be brought into the team to replace him if he did not recover from a side strain.
Jamaican leg-spinner Gavin Wallace, who has captured 22 wickets in four first-class matches and has impressed many observers, has also been included.
Last week he put his name into the record books with figures of 8-20 in a demolition job on the Leeward Islands in St Kitts.
England, who fly out to the Caribbean tomorrow, will play a three-day practice match against a St Kitts XI in Basseterre from January 25 to 27 before taking on the West Indies A team in the solitary first-class match ahead of next month’s first Test in Jamaica.
SQUAD – Adrian Barath, Brandon Bess, Darren Bravo, Amit Jaggernauth, Leon Johnson, Nelon Pascal, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Devon Thomas, Gavin Wallace.
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